Amusement park making comeback

IRAQ

Mazin Yahya, Associated Press

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, June 28, 2009

Photo: Karim Kadim, AP

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

** CORRECTS THE FACT BAGHDAD ISLAND WAS BASED ON A DESIGN BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT ** U.S. Army soldiers provide security at a groundbreaking ceremony for the revitalization of Baghdad Island, built in the 1980s and based on a design by Frank Lloyd Wright in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 22, 2009. U.S. and Iraqi officials have begun renovating an amusement park on an island north of Baghdad. It's the latest effort to restore a sense of normalcy amid security gains and reflects a U.S. focus on civil affairs projects ahead of next week's deadline for combat troops to withdraw from cities. The 150-acre Tigris River complex was a popular site for weddings and other celebrations before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. But it was devastated by looting in the aftermath. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) less

** CORRECTS THE FACT BAGHDAD ISLAND WAS BASED ON A DESIGN BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT ** U.S. Army soldiers provide security at a groundbreaking ceremony for the revitalization of Baghdad Island, built in the 1980s ... more

Photo: Karim Kadim, AP

Amusement park making comeback

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

American and Iraqi officials began the renovation of a popular amusement park Monday on an island north of Baghdad that was looted after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The 150-acre Tigris River complex, which was based on a design by Frank Lloyd Wright, was a popular site for weddings and other celebrations. It was devastated by looters after the invasion.

It was built by two Finnish companies in the early 1980s and has a man-made lake.

Iraqis flocked to the vast park on weekends and holidays, enjoying an amphitheater, an outdoor cinema, a swimming pool, a 165-foot observation tower and even a bowling alley.

Elite runners start the first wave of Bay to Breakers 2018San Francisco Chronicle

Coyote trots around Golden Gate parkTed Andersen, SFGATE

Iraqis paid only a symbolic sum of about 250 dinars (10 cents) to enter.

But all that ended with the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the subsequent violence that made it to hard to reach the island, which was surrounded by former insurgent strongholds.

"U.S. troops were based near the island and had the area blocked off," said Abdul-Zahra al-Talaqani, a spokesman for Iraq's ministry of tourism and antiquities. "Moreover it was very hard to reach the island because it was surrounded by volatile areas."

He said the Americans were contributing to fixing the electricity and water pumps, and Iraqi workers were removing garbage and cleaning the lake as part of the first phase.

Iraqi officials are hoping to restore the area to its previous status as part of a push to restore a sense of normalcy amid security gains. The effort also reflects a U.S. focus on civil affairs projects before next week's deadline for combat troops to withdraw from cities.

Iraqis still face bombings, shootings and other attacks on a daily basis, but a U.S. troop buildup in 2007, a Shiite militia cease-fire and a Sunni revolt against al Qaeda in Iraq have caused a sharp drop in violence over the past two years.

The Iraqi minister in charge of tourism, Qahtan al-Jubouri, said at a groundbreaking ceremony Monday that he hoped the project would be completed by the end of the year.

"This island was and, God willing, will be again one of the big and important amusement parks in the capital Baghdad," he said.